For what we give thanks
by beamirang
Summary: Jim's been running on fumes since Nero and Bones hasn't been able to shake off the knowledge that he let his friend down when Jim needed him the most. The solution to both problems required an impromptu kidnapping and far too much turkey. Post ST Thanksgiving fluff.
1. Chapter 1

Sorry for the absence everyone. The plague came back with a vengeance and I am the world's worst sick person. I tend to hibernate which is all well and good but it does mean I lose touch with the world until I feel less icky. I'm not even a little bit hardcore, it's very pathetic. Acceptable Losses will be updated tomorrow, assuming I don't get the chance to do so later tonight. This is mostly a slow moving, cuddly, comforty Thanksgiving story I wrote following, and around the same time as _Genesis_. It's going to be four parts long and is pretty much unrelenting snuggliness with a little sprinkle of angst for flavor. There's lots of Jim&Bones being BFF, Jo being adorable, Pike and McCoy family feels, snark and post Narada issues that require lots and lots of hugs. And turkey.

* * *

Jim was pretty much dead on his feet. It was close to midnight and he'd just been released from an official meeting with an Admiral whose name he couldn't even remember. The damn thing had been almost six hours longer than it needed to be and just the latest in a long line of hoops Jim had been jumping through for several weeks.

He was exhausted and had been ever since the adrenaline had worn off and he'd found himself sitting in the Captain's chair on the bridge of the _Enterprise_ wondering how exactly he'd gotten there.

That had been six weeks ago, and though the initial onslaught of debriefings, ceremonies, funerals and appearances had begun to dwindle, his official workload had more than increased to make up the deficit. And then some.

He'd tested out of his final exams, most of his coursework being waved by the sheer merit of his current circumstances, but there had been things even a grateful Admiralty had refused to allow him to bypass. He'd been supposed to have had years to learn the things he was being expected to now know, and while he'd always wanted to be challenged intellectually, he'd rapidly come to accept that he wasn't as effortlessly brilliant as he'd always thought he was. The volume of information he was processing was immense, the schedule he was expected to keep alongside it intense, and likelihood of him making it to the end of the year without falling flat on his face was looking less and less likely.

By the time he made it to the new apartment Bones and Spock had forced him to move in to, his feet were scuffing the ground with every step.

He wanted his bed. He was so exhausted even the nightmares wouldn't be enough to keep him from crawling beneath the covers.

Stumbling out of the turbo lift to his floor, Jim had to blink a few times before his mind processed the visitor waiting on his doorstep. Even as delight pulled a smile to his lips, he managed only a weary "Hey Bones,".

It surprised him to realize it had been over a week since he'd last seen his friend. His schedule wasn't the only one pushing him to the edge. Bones had spent more time at the hospital than outside it and the few times he'd commed Jim to meet for drinks or dinner, Jim had been forced to either cancel or decline outright. The messages had stopped a few days ago and Jim was reluctant to admit he missed Bones's irritable comms.

He'd even missed that grumpy scowl, the one Bones was wearing as he gave Jim the professional once over and clearly didn't like what he saw. Leonard McCoy cut an intimidating figure, even by Jim's standards, but after weeks of being grilled by one Admiral after another – and being pulled in to address the President herself – Jim was pretty much jaded to all attempts to glare him into submission.

"Jim." Bones said by way of greeting, hi arms crossed over his chest. He was in civvies and his usual fastidious hair far more rumpled than usual. Instead of letting Jim by so they could go inside, he marched forward, took Jim's elbow firmly in hand and steered them back towards the turbolift.

"Not now, Bones." Jim protested, his dreams of sleep growing distant, along with the sight of his door. "Tomorrow, I swear." Bones said nothing, his jaw tighter than usual and his expression particularly thunderous. Jim tripped over his own feet more than once at the brisk pace. "Please, Bones." He begged, "I need to sleep."

If anything, Bones looked even angrier. Jim wracked his brain for whatever he might have done to piss him off this time. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry okay? You can yell at me later all you like, but I swear if you do it now I _will_ fall asleep on you."

"Shut up, Jim." McCoy said mulishly, dragging Jim out of the lift and across the lobby.

The air outside was cold and crisp, but still not enough to really bring Jim around. McCoy pulled him out to the curb and manhandled him into the back of waiting transportation. "Bones? Where are we going?"

"Thought I told you to shut up?" Bones said, his voice and his expression pissed, but his hands gentle. Jim took his cues from Bones's body language and always had done, a necessity when dealing with a man who's natural expression was 'irritated' and who sounded angry even when he wasn't. The hands that pushed him down onto the back bench were competent and more importantly, harmless. Jim felt the tension leave his shoulders and slumped down more comfortably.

"Are you kidnapping me?" He asked mildly when Bones closed the door then climbed in the front of the vehicle.

"Yes." Bones replied, programming their destination into the computer. From the angle he was sat, Jim couldn't make it out.

"Oh." He said tiredly, leaning his head back against the padded seat. "Okay then."

"Jim?"

"Hmm?"

"_Shut up."_

Jim had the perfect insult to fire back at him, but it got lost somewhere between his brain and the black cloud of fuzziness that fell over him.

* * *

When Jim woke he had the stiffness in his limbs that suggested he'd been in the same position for too long, and a bursting need to piss. Blinking groggily, he raised his head, surprised to find that he was laid out in an actual bed and tucked under a mountain of blankets.

"So it does live." The amused chuckle from the seat in next to the bed drew his attention away from the lingering haziness of sleep. Bones had one foot resting on the opposite knee, a PADD balanced on his thigh and an expression far less tense than it had previously been.

"Did you drug me?" Jim aimed for suspicious and annoyed, but his words were broken by a jaw dropping yawn, spoiling the effect.

"No I didn't drug you, moron. The body does this weird thing called _sleep_ when it is tired."

"We were in a car," Jim frowned, rubbing his eyes, still feeling heavy limbed and slightly out of touch. He never had problems waking up usually.

"We were." McCoy nodded.

"And now we're…not?"

"I can see why people think you're a genius." McCoy deadpanned.

Jim tried to glare at him before giving up to glance around the room. "Wait, are we in your mom's house?" Bones nodded. "Your mom's house in Georgia? How the hell did that happen?"

"You were pretty out of it." Bones shrugged.

"Is that the medical term?" Jim grumbled, throwing back the sheets. He was in his boxers and one of Bones's Old Miss t-shirts and while Bones had certainly had cause to dress and undress him before, it was usually because Jim was too drunk to be of any help.

As if sensing his thought process, Bones rolled his eyes. "You've been in that damn uniform for six weeks. I don't care what you say, freshers only do so much. And if you want to be technical then you can call it severe fatigue. Fact of the matter is you slept through the entire trip, my mom lecturing me loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood and me bumping your head on the banister while hauling your ass up here."

Jim gaped at him. Okay, yes, sometimes he crashed pretty spectacularly if he'd been pushing things – his last set of finals had put him out for an entire weekend – but he never slept that deeply unaided. "Holy shit."

Bones gave him his patented expression for when he thought Jim was being particularly dense. "You needed it, Jim. You were burning the candle at both ends even before the whole mess with Nero."

Jim scowled at him and hauled himself out of bed. He'd been working on that damn simulation of Spock's, true, and he might have taken that to extremes, but that was hardly the onset of his exhaustion. Jim worked hard and he played hard, that was his style.

"And you dragged me to your mom's why?"

"It's Thanksgiving tomorrow, dumbass." McCoy said, as if that explained anything.

In a way, it did. Before meeting Bones he'd never had a Thanksgiving – his only reference for it in fact was second hand stories and things he'd read. It hadn't been a blip on his family's radar. McCoy, on the other hand, came from a family firmly rooted in tradition and instead of leaving Jim to cause havoc while unsupervised, had dragged him home to Georgia. That had been their first year as friends. It had become an unspoken rule that Jim came home with him at least once a year.

Jim never protested. How could he? He'd been declared an honorary McCoy some time after drinking one of Bones's cousins under the table and announced as family that very moment. Jim, who hardly had a family of his own to compare them to, greedily lapped up every moment of warmth and love Bones and his family shared.

Besides, he got to hang out with Jo, who had wrapped him around her little finger by the time she was two years old.

He just hadn't realized it was that time of year already. The days had become something of a blur. "I didn't realize." He admitted.

Bones handed him fresh clothes, new ones, not his own, which had probably been bought especially for him by Mrs McCoy, who though polite enough not to call Jim a tragic, motherless orphan in need of coddling to his face, had very specific views about how Jim was to be treated when in her house – namely he was spoiled, fed and dotted upon, squirming be damned.

"I know kid." Bones said gently. "But mom would actually have had my head if I didn't bring you home with me."

Jim nodded and ran his fingers over the soft fabric of the new sweater. He hated charity, and he could certainly afford his own things now, especially in light of his promotion, but he'd come to learn that Bones's mom liked to spoil the people she loved, and somehow without understanding what he'd done to deserve it, Jim had become one of them. He certainly would never have bought himself anything as nice as the clothes in his hands, tending to favor practicality over comfort. His new outfit wouldn't last five minutes out in the wilderness, but they certainly looked nice.

But still for all that he wanted to pull the soft sweater over his head, go downstairs and listen to the warm chatter of kind, friendly people, he had so much work to do.

He opened his mouth to say so, getting so far as, "Bones-" before McCoy was shaking his head.

"You're signed off for two weeks, Jim. You're exhausted, you haven't taken any of the leave the rest of us were forced to take, you need some time off."

"I'm fine Bones, really. I slept great, but that's all I needed."

"Jim," Bones said seriously, "you woke up if I so much as rolled over when we were sharing a room and yet you were so exhausted I was able to carry you into the house and put you to bed like the damn infant you are." Jim scowled, embarrassed, which was insane. This was Bones, who had seen Jim in far worse conditions than a dead sleep. "For once in your life, do as you're told. You need some time away from Starfleet after everything that's happened." Then Bones sighed, as if a heavy weight suddenly had fallen on his shoulders, "And Jim, _we_ need time."

"We do?" Jim blinked. Had he missed something? Suddenly worried, he thought back over the last few weeks. Sure, they hadn't seen much of each other, but that was hardly cause for alarm.

"Yeah Jim, we do." Bones said, sounding as weary as Jim felt. "Look, grab a shower then head on downstairs. We both need to eat and I can only hold mom off from coming up here and crying on you for so long."

"Crying on me?" Jim said in alarm, unable to imagine Bones's mom doing anything of the sort. She was a little like Hoshi-san in that respect. Kind, gentle, utterly terrifying. "Why would she cry on me?"

Bones shook his head. "Shower." He gave Jim a gentle shove towards the bathroom. "I'll see you downstairs."

He left the room leaving Jim clutching his new clothes and wondering what the hell he'd missed this time.

* * *

The McCoy family home always managed to feel warm and inviting, despite the sheer size of it. Jim had been blown away the first time he'd seen it. He'd known Bones had come from a wealthy family, but there was wealthy and there was _this_. Jim had been given his own room on the east side of the house, six doors down from Bones's. He'd never been in a house that had enough rooms for two of them to be _six doors_ apart.

It had its own en-suite which gave Jim some privacy to freshen up and he was grateful for his good memory when it came to finding his way down to the kitchen.

Bones was waiting, sat at the breakfast table reading the news while his mom hovered by the stove. Jim knew there was a replicator in the house, but he'd never seen it used. She looked up as Jim arrived and paused.

"Morning, Mrs McCoy." No matter how many times she'd asked him to call her Eleanor, he'd never been able to manage it. Like Hoshi-san, she deserved the respect of a proper title. Normally that would be the point where she'd come over and smother him with kisses, call him sugar and hustle him over to the table for food. This time she just stared at him long enough for the urge to fidget to become almost overwhelming.

Then she finally moved. She reached Jim's side and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him the way she hugged Bones – with far less fanfare and ten times the emotion. Jim felt guilty hugging her back – she was Bones's mom, not his – but he did have some manners, despite popular opinion, and carefully returned the embrace.

"You're a good boy, Jim." She said as she finally pulled back, patting him on the cheek as she went. Over at the counter, Bones had an undecipherable look on his face. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes thank you." Jim said, allowing himself to be shuffled over to sit next to Bones, who poured him coffee from the freshly steaming pot. Jim took it gratefully. "I'm sorry I wasn't quite with it enough to say hello last night."

She and Bones shared a look. "Jim, we got here two days ago."

Jim gaped at him, hurriedly looking for a distraction from their worried looks. "Guess that's why I'm so hungry then."

"Well we can fix that up." Eleanor smiled brightly, pushing aside the awkwardness that hung in the air and turning to the stove to fix up the batch of pancakes she'd been baking. "Still a blueberry fan?"

"Yes ma'am." Jim grinned, settling down in his seat. Bones rolled his eyes predictably and Jim felt himself relax. He might be missing something, but Bones was still Bones, the one consistent in Jim's life. He'd figure it out and he'd fix it.

After pancakes.


	2. Chapter 2

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you all have wonderful days wherever you are and whether you participate or not.

This part gets a little more angsty. I'm no good with crying children and neither is Jim :(

* * *

"You watching carefully?" Jim didn't really need to ask. Stretched out on his chest in front of the roaring fire in the sitting room, he had a captive audience in the form of Joanna, who had her chin resting on her hands and a look of rapt attention on her face. Jim was propped up on his elbows, one hand raised as he walked an antique coin across the backs of his knuckles. "You sure?" He teased, walking the coin back.

Jo rolled her eyes in a manner scarily reminiscent of her father. "Yes Uncle Jim." She said patiently. Jim couldn't wait to see what she'd be like as an adult if she was this sassy at six.

"Hmm, really?" Jim asked, letting the coin balance for a second before flipping it over and palming it. "I don't think you were."

"Uncle Jim!"

"What?" Jim asked innocently. "I thought you were watching. You saw where it went, didn't you?" He reached over and tugged gently on one of her braids, letting the coin drop into her lap.

"Show me again!" She laughed in delight. Jim obliged, and then again as she tried to follow the trick. Slight of hand was something Jim had actually taught himself when he was only a little older than she was and been fascinated with a young Ensign on the USS _Taurus_ who liked to perform magic tricks. It had come in useful later in life, mostly when he'd been between occupations as a teenager, but he'd never lost that initial thrill he got when he saw a trick and was able to break it down.

"Are you watching closely?" He said the same words that had been whispered to him, "closer, closer…okay, too close!" He laughed when Jo ended up practically putting her nose against his hand, she stuck her tongue out at him – something both Bones and Jocelyn discouraged – and he responded in kind.

He let the coin rest on the back of his hand and bounced it lightly, gaining more and more height until he threw it up and it seemed to vanish into thin air.

"Are you teaching my daughter your degenerate tricks again?" Bones entered the room with a tray of steaming cocoa and set it down on the coffee table by Jim's head.

"Uncle Jim made the coin disappear!" Jo said in delight.

"Oh did he now?" Jim turned his best look of wide-eyed innocence up on Bones, who predictably rolled his eyes in response. For some reason that look never worked on him. Maybe because Jo did something similar and she was ten times as cute, but either way Bones was probably the only person Jim had met who had immunity. "So where is it, hotshot?"

"That's a very good question." Jim responded. "Jo, you have any ideas?" Joanna shook her head and bit on her lip in concentration. Jim leaned over so they were shoulder to shoulder on the rug and whispered conspiratorially. "You know, your daddy came in just as it vanished. Maybe he has it?"

"Oh no- McCoy held up his hands and began to back away quickly.

Jim and Jo shared a look, then pounced.

Jim was the one who brought Bones down crashing onto the couch with an undignified yelp of surprise. It turned out a few hours in Jo's company was even better for helping Jim combat his exhaustion than Mrs McCoy's feather beds.

"Jim!" Bones growled, keeping a careful lid on his cussing with Jo in the room. Jim grinned at him as he sat himself firmly on Bones's legs and helped Jo crawl up to use her daddy's chest as a perch to continue her hunt for the coin. "So help me I'll-"

"Small ears, Bones!" Jim said in a sign-song voice.

"You just wait till your next physical you ingrate!"

Of course Bones was no more angry than he was genuinely struggling, though he did let out an umph of air as Jo managed to knee him in the gut.

"Any sign?" Jim asked her. She shook her head. "Huh, that's strange."

Bones shot him a dirty glare before suddenly lurching up, one arm wrapping around Jo's waist as he tossed her over his shoulder to shrieks of delight. Jim he dumped not so gently onto the floor.

"Uncle Jim, help!"

"Uncle Jim's in enough trouble as it is." Bones growled, clearly trying hard not to laugh at them both.

"Eep?" Jim held up his hands in a gesture of innocence.

"I'll give you 'eep'!" Bones tossed Jo gently back down onto the couch so she bounced on the cushions, then advanced on Jim.

"Oh look, the coin!" Jim said, dropping the coin at Bones's feet. Jo cheered in victory and Jim took the chance to make a run for it.

He got about three feet before he was dumped flat on his face and rolled over to find Bones laughing at him. "You suck." He croaked, slightly winded. Bones smirked, his eyes suddenly widening in alarm as he tumbled forwards, crashing onto Jim with enough force to leave them both out of breath.

Which was how Mrs McCoy found them, a small mountain of bodies with Jo perched on Bones's back, coin in her hand and clearly the victor while her daddy and Jim struggled to breathe around their laughter.

"Oh my –" her dark eyes twinkled with amusement, "Leo, you have a call."

Jo took her time climbing down off her perch, hardly out of breath while her two playmates had to struggle to their feet, gasping and trying to coordinate their limbs. "Are we old?" Jim croaked hands on his keens.

"It's a distinct possibility." McCoy nodded. "Call?"

Mrs McCoy looked vaguely apologetic. "Maggie Greengrass."

"Ah." Bones sighed.

"I did tell her you were on vacation but she heard you were back and she's having one of her episodes."

"It's fine. Tell her I'll be over as soon as I can." Mrs McCoy smiled and nodded her head before leaving. At Jim's quizzical look McCoy shrugged his shoulders. "She's one hundred and eleven and hates doctors." He said.

"Except daddy."

"Goodness knows why." Jim muttered. "What? I can use polite people language."

"For the love of-"

"Wait, daddy you said you were going to take Uncle Jim and me to the park." Joanna tugged on Bones's arms, her expression twisted unhappily. Jim did not envy Bones having to be on the receiving end.

Bones knelt down next to her. "Uncle Jim and I, sweetheart." He corrected absently. "I'm sorry Jo, maybe we can go later?"

Jo's lip wobbled. She got to spend so little time with them that she tended to be jealous of what she did have. Jim also knew Bones hated to turn down a patient, even if he clearly wanted to.

"Hey, no problem JoJo, how about we hit the park and your daddy joins us when he's done?" Jim shot Bones a questioning look and was relieved when his friend nodded gratefully.

"That sounds like a good plan. That okay with you sweetheart?" Bones asked his daughter in hopes of stemming a tantrum.

Jo eventually nodded her head and put her hand in Jim's outstretched one. Bones gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Make sure you wear a jacket." He said, heading to the door to pick up his bag.

"Yes daddy."

"I was talking to your Uncle Jim." Bones smirked. Jim stuck his tongue out in retaliation.

"Don't be out too late!" Bones's mom called from down the hall. "Donna and Fred will be here at eight."

"We won't. Someone has a bedtime to keep."

"But daddy…"Jo pouted.

Bones winked at her. "Still talking about Uncle Jim."

"You guys are a riot." Jim huffed goodnaturedly. Spending time with Bones and Jo was his favorite thing, and it helped lift him out of the fugue like state he'd been in for the past few weeks. The same could clearly be said for Bones as well. He'd brightened up ever since Jo arrived after lunch and hadn't stopped smiling since. "Okay kiddo, go get your coat and we'll regroup in the hall in five."

Jo gave him a solid attempt at a salute. "Aye aye!" She chirruped, skipping off to her bedroom.

"I'm real sorry Jim." Bones said once she was gone.

Jim shook his head. "Don't be, we'll be fine. We'll swing on swings, climb money bars, I'll teach her how to shake down the other kids for candy, no problem."

"If you get arrested I'm sending Donna to bail your ass out." Bones threatened. Donna was Bones's older sister and was so sweet and painfully shy Jim often felt like an insensitive asshole just by being in the same room as her. He didn't think they'd ever actually had a full conversation despite spending three Christmases together.

"That's cruel, Bones." Jim glared at him. "Go away already. You've got a date with an eleventy one year old to get to."

Bones flipped him the bird and Jim wandered off in search of a jacket.

* * *

He ended up stealing one of Bones's, not wanting to attract too much attention by throwing on his uniform. He often raided Bones's wardrobe when they roomed together, and the one time a sleepy, uncaffeinated Bones spent five minutes trying to understand why Jim's cadet reds wouldn't button up over his chest remained to that day one Jim's all time favorite Monday mornings. It wasn't often he got that kind of ammunition to use.

The park was only five minutes from the house and surprisingly unoccupied, meaning Jim felt less like a weird creep than he might have done when he allowed Jo to cajole him into climbing the jungle jim with her. Hanging upside down so the blood rushed to his head while she cheered him on was not the craziest thing he had ever done on a dare.

"Not too high, kiddo." Jim warned as he pulled himself upright. "Your dad would have my head if you fell."

Jo swung like a monkey, all toothy grins and boundless energy as she hopped from one bar to another. "I'm not going to fall Uncle Jim!" She laughed with the same supreme confidence Jim sometimes recognized in himself.

"Uhuh. Well I might, it's too high for me. You wanna come down and keep me company?"

Jo paused to consider as Jim swung down to the ground. "Okay!" She said, jumping right at him.

Jim moved to catch her and cringed as she banged into one of the beams, knocking off her course and landing her in the middle of the frame with a jolt and a crack of bone Jim could have swore he felt himself.

She paused on the ground, stunned, then to Jim's horror, burst into loud, pained tears.

"Jo!" Jim pulled her out as gently as he could but she only sobbed harder. "Where does it hurt sweetheart?" Jim set her down gently, not sure how best to comfort her and aching when she refused to let him see her arm, which was clearly the source of her pain.

He'd never been good with crying children. It freaked him out and made him feel utterly helpless. Hearing _Jo_ crying was exponentially worse. She sobbed as if she didn't care who heard her, loud and messy and with enough force to make Jim think that the world might actually be about to end.

"It's okay," he soothed, on the edge of panic himself, "shush sweetheart, it's okay. It hurts, I know, but we can fix that up no problem. Shush, please don't cry, Jo."

He had no idea what to say to comfort her. The first time Frank had broken his arm he hadn't said a word to Jim, just dragged him to a clinic and spun some bullshit story while a disinterested nurse had run him through regen treatment. Jim certainly hadn't cried with the same force Jo did, but then if he had he'd have probably have had far more than just a bust arm in need of fixing.

He'd broken it several times since then, the latest of which it had been set by Bones. It had been a bad break, the worst he'd had, and Jim had practically been delirious and so couldn't remember any of the words Bones had used to comfort him. Knowing Bones they'd probably been mostly insult which…not about to work here.

He was panicking. It was carefully contained, but there it was. Why the hell did the Academy not give seminars on this kind of thing?

"Daddy!" Jo wailed, "I want daddy!"

"Yes!" Jim shouted in agreement. "Good call. Let's find your daddy, he can make it better." McCoy fixed things, that's what he did. Broken things like bones and spleens and Jims.

Jo's cry might have well have worked like a magic charm. Moments later, Jim caught sight of Bones sprinting across the grass towards them, no doubt hearing Jo's sobbing and assuming the worst.

Like the fact that Jim had let her break her arm on his watch.

"What happened?" Bones yelled at Jim, crouching by Jo and putting a hand on her back, the other fishing for his ever present tricorder. "Baby, what's wrong?"

If seeing her father brought her any comfort, it was news to Jim. She hiccuped then burst into a fresh round of tears.

"Jim, what the hell happened?" Bones demanded again, eyebrows pulling together into a frown as his tricorder spat out a diagnostic.

Jim gaped at him, his voice suddenly lodged in his throat. "She…she fell. I'm sorry Bones –it was an accident, I'm-"

Bones shook his head and climbed to his feet. "Come on baby, let's get that fixed up shall we?" He stroked his hand over Jo's hair and as if flicking some kind of switch, her crying died down. She nodded tearfully and clung to Bones with her good arm when he lifted her up.

Jim knew he had the tools to do the job back at the house, which was the direction Bones headed in.

Stuffing his hands into his pocket, he followed listlessly.

He prayed Jo would be alright.

He prayed Bones would believe that it had been an accident, that he'd trust that Jim would never, ever hurt her on purpose.

But for some strange reason he couldn't understand, a part of him was afraid Bones would do just that.


	3. Chapter 3

I hope everyone survived yesterday – I certainly didn't. There's good wifi Beyond the Veil though, so it's manageable. Plague is still out in force but all your lovely comments (threats) and support (don't think I can't see those tribbles…) help keep the killer germs at bay. My doctor is, sadly, nothing like Bones though and that's a little disappointing. I feel there's been some false advertising. I might also be a little bit loopy on the meds… fun!

* * *

The chains on the old porch swing had been coated with a rust resistant alloy, meaning there was no tell tale squeak as Jim pushed back and forth listlessly, his eyes on the stars above.

He'd lost track of how long he'd been outside, but the moon was full and bright and the jacket he wore was no longer enough to ward off the chill. It probably wasn't as late as he thought it was – it hadn't been too long ago he'd heard Donna and Fred arrive, he just hadn't been able to bring himself to venture back inside.

Bones had managed to calm Jo down before they'd even made it back and rationally Jim knew she'd be completely fine. Bones would fix the break and she'd have to wear it strapped for a week or so, but broken bones were no longer the kind of problem they once had been. He wasn't sure he could have handled seeing a cast on Jo's arm for weeks on end.

"There you are." Jim stopped the chair mid swing as Mrs McCoy stepped out on to the porch. "Have you been out here all night? Sweetheart, you must be freezing." She pulled the blanket that was draped over the back of the chair so she could tuck it around Jim's shoulders. He blinked. He hadn't thought to do that.

"Thanks." He said quietly. "How's Jo?"

"Well she has strawberry ice cream and her daddy's undivided attention." Eleanor smiled, sitting down next to Jim. "I'd say she's happy as a lobster in a warm bath."

"Her arm?" Jim couldn't help but smile. Bones got his colorful turn of phrase from his mom, that was for certain.

"Clean break. Leo fixed it up in a jiffy so stop your worrying. It's not the first time that child has gotten carried away on that jungle jim and I'm sure it won't be the last. Just like her daddy. You know Leo cracked his skull wide open on it when he was seven because David Brythe dared him to jump from the top."

Jim smiled but even the idea of Bones as a child wasn't enough to cheer him up.

Eleanor patted him on the knee. "Come on, out with it."

"Huh?" Jim frowned.

"I haven't been able to pry you and Joanna apart since the moment she decided Leo needed to adopt you so she could have a big brother. You hover as much as he does and I never thought that possible. So tell me why you're out here in a bid for slow onset hypothermia instead of inside."

"I…" Jim didn't even know the answer to that himself. "I don't know. I guess, I mean, it's not really my place is it?"

"That might just be the worst excuse I have ever heard." She huffed. "You're out here like a puppy sent away in disgrace. Now we might not know each other as well as I'd like, but I'd take a bet that you're thinking Leo's upset with you."

"Isn't he?" Jim asked. "He was upset with me even before we came here."

"I think you're mistaking the target of his anger, sweetheart." Eleanor frowned.

"I was supposed to be looking after her." Jim muttered, looking away from her shrewd gaze.

"Accidents happen, especially around children, no matter how closely you might be watching." Jim looked away, eyes turned to the sky. The _Enterprise _was up there somewhere. Strange how he missed something he'd only had for a short while. "Ah, there we are." Eleanor. "How old were you?"

Jim turned sharply. "What?"

His tone didn't seem to bother her, though he was instantly ashamed. "How old were you when you had your first 'accident'."

Jim stared at her, his face flushing with shame. "I don't know what Bones told you-" They didn't even talk about it, not unless Jim was dangerously drunk or high on medication. He knew Bones knew about Frank, but it was one of the things they didn't talk about, up there with why Bones joined Starfleet or what happened on Tarsus IV. They were things they knew about each other, but never addressed.

"Leo hasn't said a word, Jim." Eleanor said kindly. "He wouldn't, even if he wanted to."

"I that obvious?" Jim looked down at his hands and fiddled with the edge of the blanket. One of her small, delicate hands curled over his.

"No, sweetheart, not at all."

"Then-"

"How old, Jim?" She refused to let him change the subject, her voice firm but unfailingly kind. Her thumb rubbed over the back of his palm and he had the sudden, overwhelming urge to tell her everything…to tell _someone_ everything.

But no, he couldn't do that. He could answer the question though. Stubbornness was a McCoy family trait.

"Eleven." He whispered. Her hand squeezed his gently.

"Who?"

"My uncle. He didn't really like me very much."

She frowned but didn't comment on that. "Tell me what happened."

So he did. He told her what he'd never told anyone. He told her about the morning after Sam had left, when Jim was still flush with the adrenaline of destroying the car, proud of the way he'd hurt Frank for driving Sam away. He told her how Frank had wrenched his arm behind his back and twisted until it felt like the whole limb was on fire. "He took me to a clinic and told the nurse I'd done it playing with the neighbors. He said they'd gotten carried away, forgot how young I was…"

"And they believed him." Eleanor finished for him. Both her hands were folded around his own now, and he couldn't bare to look at her.

"He said it was an accident." Jim muttered, still remembering the stunned hurt he'd felt when she'd not even questioned it. He didn't think he'd have had the guts to say otherwise if he'd been asked, but he'd wanted someone to say something so badly.

"I'm sorry that happened Jim, I really am, but sweetheart, you aren't your uncle. You didn't hurt Jo. She fell. It _was_ just an accident."

Jim finally found the nerve to meet her gaze. "How do you know that? No one saw it. I could be lying."

"But you aren't. I've seen you with her, Jim. You'd sooner walk into oncoming traffic than harm a hair on her head. I trust you. Leo trusts you. Jo thinks you hung the moon. You aren't that person."

"I could be." Jim looked away again. "I mean, statistically speaking that's likely to happen." He knew the figures. How many abusers had been abused themselves, and god knew, he had a temper, a violent one. Who was to say that one day he wouldn't just snap?

"From what I hear you aren't one to go by statistics." She smiled. "Jim, if I thought you were a threat to my granddaughter I'd have you buried under this porch faster than you can say southerner with a shotgun. Now it's true, sometimes bad people are like that because somebody hurt them, and it's just as true that sometimes they're that way just because. But you know what's also true?" Jim shook his head. Her smile was so gentle, so warm. "That sometimes the very best people come from the very worst places, and they shine so bright because they don't want the dark touching other folk. Those are the special ones, and the terrible thing is they have no idea of their own worth." She supped his cheek softly. "But I see it, clear as day. Lord knows Leo and Joanna do too."

Jim didn't cry. He hadn't in a long time. But he thought that maybe if he remembered how, he might have done so. "I…that's not…that's not me."

"Well I beg to differ and I can think of a fair few people who agree with me." She stood and tugged Jim up with her. "So what's say we go inside and you let them help me convince you."

"Convince him of what?" They both turned at the sound of Bones's voice. He stood in the doorway, backlit by light streaming from the porch. Jim threw Eleanor a desperate look. He didn't want to talk about these things with Bones. It wasn't that Bones wouldn't understand, it was just…it was _just_.

He need not have worried. Eleanor was on his side and slipped her arm into his as they made their way inside. "That it's about time he tell us why he gave you that ridiculous nickname."

Bones snorted. "Good luck with that. I've been asking three years." He frowned at Jim, worried. "You okay? I wondered where you got."

"Jim's been keeping an old lady company. It's not everyday I get to say I spent the night under the stars with a handsome young Starfleet officer." Eleanor covered for him. Jim automatically grinned.

"You just want to make the neighbors gossip." He teased.

"Of course I do!" She nudged him with her arm. "How else are we old ladies supposed to entertain ourselves?"

"Enough with the old." Jim chided.

"I'm old and my bones know it."

"That's why I call _him_ Bones." Jim shot his friend a tentative grin.

"Uh huh. You coming in or not? You have a guest."

Jim blinked. "Me?"

"Last I checked you _are_ Jim Kirk." Bones groused.

Who the hell would want to visit Jim? Bones and his mom shared a conspiratorial smile and Jim felt his curiosity spike. Still, he needed to ask.

"Is Jo-?"

"She's fine, kid." Bones reassured gently. "So are we, by the way."

Jim nodded and couldn't help the grateful smile he sent Bones's way. A strong hand squeezed his shoulder. A promise to talk later.

After Jim greeted his guest.

They stepped out into the hallway and Jim fumbled to a stop, his eyes going wide and his heart suddenly pounding. "Bones?" he whispered, "what is this?"

"I told you before, kid. Thanksgiving is about family. You're my family, and that makes your family mine as well. I did invite Professor Sato, but she's stuck on the other side of the quadrant. She sends her love and demands you eat her share of the turkey."

Jim had to push back the rise of emotion at the mention of Hoshi-san. She'd been the only person to come and see him after they had landed. All the crew had someone waiting for them, someone pleased to see them home safe and sound. Jim had been resigned to being alone in the crowd when he'd spotted her.

He'd have loved to have had her there. But this…this was just as good in so many ways.

The man waiting in the chair by the door was perhaps the person Jim had the most complicated relationship. He was also, after Bones, the one person he was perhaps the most vulnerable to. His opinion meant everything to Jim, his approval something he had only recently accepted it was okay to crave.

Christopher Pike, now an Admiral, hadn't smiled at him the way he was now in so long. After Nero, his recovery slow and his body crippled, he'd treated Jim professionally, utterly courteous once he'd chewed Jim a new one for the stunts he'd pulled, but with the distance protocol had dictated.

Jim hadn't realized how much me missed the informality they once had.

"Admiral Pike." Still, Jim addressed him by his title. Maybe Starfleet had finally broke him into their mold after all.

"We're not in uniform, son." Pike smiled. "Happy Thanksgiving, Jim."


	4. Chapter 4

I realized how long this chapter was so decided to split it in two. So one more part is due your way. This update is mostly snuggles and Bones finally coming clean with what's on his mind. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Bones ended up handing Jim a sleepy Joanna to put to bed, something that had taken far more dexterity than Jim had ever realized might be needed. Bones's ability to dress and undress Jim when he was at his most uncooperative made much more sense in light of trying to wrestle Jo into pjs without jostling her arm. She'd sleepily demanded a story, then another, then three kisses, one from her daddy and two from Jim because mommy wasn't there and mommy had blue eyes so it was almost the same. All trauma and upset of the day seemed long past and she snuggled down in her sheets with a smile.

Eleanor had then passed him a tumbler of brandy when he joined everyone in front of the fire, tired from the day but feeling a warm glow inside that had everything to do with the people under that roof.

Donna and Fred had given him their customary greetings, kisses on each cheek and a flush of embarrassment that checked Jim's language far faster than any threats Bones might have uttered.

When he was finally able to take a seat next to Pike, Jim was loose limbed, topped up by good alcohol and enjoying every indulgent minute of the plush couch.

"Motherhood suits you." Pike teased him.

Jim lazily flipped him the bird. "What? You said we were off duty."

Pike laughed. "She's a cute kid."

"Ugh, I know. She needs to stop because I swear I can't handle any more adorability."

"Sounds like someone else I know." Pike looked at Jim with a warmth Jim remembered from his childhood and that golden glow inside grew.

"I bet you were a darling little boy." Eleanor beamed.

Jim snorted. "Hardly."

"It's true. He was a weird looking kid." Pike nodded. "Hair like a yeti and big saucer eyes."

"Hey! I'm sure someone thought I was cute."

"Other than the strippers, you mean." Pike laughed at him and Jim immediately regretted ever having confided that story. "They wanted to adopt him."

"My _daughter_ wants to adopt you." Bones put in with a dry smirk.

Jim shrugged. "I can't help it if I'm that adorable."

"And delusional." Bones said.

Jim muttered something very unflattering under his breath and Bones belted him in the face with a throw pillow.

"Leonard!" Eleanor scolded. "How old are you?"

"Sorry momma," Bones said contritely, sending Jim into barely concealed fits of laughter.

Eleanor turned that stern glance on Jim. "Is something amusing you, James?"

Jim gulped. "No ma'am."

"Oh you have got to teach me how you do that." Pike laughed in delight. "I normally have to yell at him for a good twenty minutes before I get anywhere."

"I usually just sedate him." Bones put in. "It's easier."

"Not all of us have access to those kind of drugs." Pike mused.

"I can hook you up if you-"

"No you can't!" Jim protested, then looked at Pike, "he can't."

By that point, everyone in the room was laughing at him. Jim couldn't even bring himself to mind, yawning and relaxing back against the couch. He zoned out for only a minute, but it was enough for Pike to reach over and touch his elbow, drawing him back to reality. "Bed." He ordered.

"Not a kid." Jim grumbled, knowing that once Bones got involved there probably were sedatives on the horizon…

"Sure you aren't." Pike said fondly. "I mean it. Go get some rest or you'll pass out on the turkey tomorrow."

"I'll make you some cocoa." Eleanor was already up and out of her chair, pulling Jim towards the kitchen. He found protesting to be pointless and obediently followed in his wake, a small, guilty thrill racing through him as he was set to bed with a hot drink and a kiss on the forehead.

"Night." He muttered, a little embarrassed at being set to bed like a child. Jim pushed it aside. This was the closest place he had to a home, and if both Pike and Mrs McCoy were sending him off to bed, maybe that wasn't so bad.

"Sleep well, sweetheart." She said, hugging him.

Jim smiled back, then said goodnight to the others before making his way up to his room. What could it hurt, getting an early night? Besides, he really was tired…

He just about managed to finish the cocoa and set it on the bedside table before he crawled under the covers and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

* * *

Jim blinked back to consciousness at the sound of his door opening and squinted in the darkness. "Bones?"

"Shit." Bones swore. "Did I wake you?"

"It's four in the morning," Jim said blearily glancing over at the display by the bed.

He could see Bones cringe even from across the room. "Yeah. Shit, sorry. I'll see you in the morning."

"Bones…" It wasn't often that Jim got to adopt the exasperated parent tone that Bones often used on him. "Come on, man. I'm tired and I'm cranky and I ate way too much pie so just… let's do this."

Bones didn't turn on the lights but Jim's eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly. The bed dipped where Bones sat and he pushed himself up more comfortably against the pillows.

"What are you on about?" Even Jim could detect the evasiveness in his voice.

Jim sighed. In truth, he was warm and comfortable and happier than he'd been in a long time. The only cloud on the horizon he couldn't quite handle was whatever this _thing_ was between them. "Look, I'm just going to say I'm sorry, okay? Like, a blanket sorry, because I've tried thinking what I might have done to piss you off but my brains not really firing on all thrusters. So please…just….tell me what I did, yell at me and I'll promise not to do it again."

"Jesus, Jim. Shut up already." Bones stared at him, his head shaking in disbelief. "Why the hell do you think you've done something wrong?"

Jim frowned. "Isn't that what you said? That we needed time? To fix us. So I mean, I must have done _something_."

For some reason that seemed to upset Bones even more. He dragged his hands through his hair in a typical Bones distress signal, his shoulders hunching miserably. Jim hated when he made Bones look like that. "Why is it when I come after you for drinking all my coffee you deny it till you're blue in the face, but you'll take blame for shit that isn't your fault like it's a goddamn sport?"

Jim blamed his tiredness for his inability to follow that sentence. "I'm lost. I didn't do anything?"

"No kid. You didn't do anything."

"Oh. Then why do we...?" He waved a hand in the air, trying to indicate all the things that hung between them.

"Should have done this weeks ago." Bones muttered darkly. His hand was back in his hair again and he looked about as seriously upset as Jim had ever seen him. He wasn't all bluster and hot air, like he so often was when irritated or mildly annoyed. When Bones was really upset or really angry, he went very, very quiet. Jim had only seen it the once and it had freaked him out enough to never want to see it again. "Took me forever to figure out what I was gonna say to you and then…then it took me twice as long to work up the damn nerve to do it."

"Aw, come on Bones." Jim tried to inject some levity. "Since when do you have problems saying stuff to me? You've practically made chewing me a new one an art form. Even Pike's impressed."

"That's because you're a reckless idiot and you need someone to bust your ass now and then." Bones obligingly let a smile tug at the edge of his lip, but the dark seriousness remained.

"Every day more like. Twice on weekdays." Jim continued to tease, feeling utterly helpless in the face of Bones's anxiety.

It didn't work. Bones let out a large huff of air with enough force to make it seem like he'd been holding on to it for a long time. Then he squared his chin and met Jim's gaze. "I'm sorry. I'm so goddamn sorry Jim."

Jim blinked at him. "Huh?"

Bones pushed himself off the bed and began to pace. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I'm sorry I didn't stick up for you. I'm sorry I let Spock kick you off the ship. I'm sorry I just _stood_ there while he damn near killed you…Jesus why did I do that?" He looked up helplessly, his expression so pained it hurt Jim as well.

He couldn't respond right away though, not with the quick forgiveness he knew his friend needed. In truth he'd not fixated on the things Bones had described. He hadn't at the time and he hadn't since. If he did, he knew exactly how he'd feel.

"Oh," he said instead. "Is that what you're upset about?"

"Damn right I'm upset about it." Bones's voice was anguished. Jim couldn't believe he'd let this eat at him for so long. "There's no forgiving what I did."

Okay, that was a bit much. "Bones, you didn't do anything."

"Exactly!"

"You're not making any sense." Jim huffed. "Why are you upset? That was weeks ago. You never said anything."

Bones once again sat on the edge of the bed. "I wanted to. It didn't really sink in what I'd done. Not until you and Spock left for the _Narada_. I don't think I've ever been so frightened in my whole damn life, waiting there, wondering if you'd come back. You only had Spock for backup and he'd just tried to kill you…and it sort of hit me. Spock had just tried to _kill you_, twice, arguably if you think about that damn deathtrap he marooned you on…and there you were allied with him because he was the one person who believed you could do the job. And I didn't. I didn't believe in you and I, out of everyone on that damn tincan _knew_ you. I know how goddamn brilliant you are." He shook his head in self-disgust.

"I wanted to say something… to tell you I was sorry, that you _did_ have my support…but I just. I didn't know how. You came back beat to hell but you'd saved the whole damn planet and you had a whole ship to look after, and then we were back in Earth and you were in debriefings forever, and I figured it would be okay, I'd just wait until you had more time and I guess it was weird, not living together after all that time and I saw how exhausted you were so I figured we'd talk on the way home but you slept through that, and all day I just couldn't stop thinking that tomorrow I'm going to have to stand up and say what I'm thankful for and how could I do that when I'd gone and stabbed him in the back?"

Jim stared, stunned. That might have been the most Bones had ever said outside of a rant. He closed his open mouth with an audible click and tried to arrange his thoughts into some form of cohesion. Somehow they strung themselves into a sentence without his permission. "I'm what you're thankful for?"

Bones groaned in exasperation. "I lay my heart out and _that's _what you take from it? Of course you are, you impossible brat. Throwing up on you was one of the best things I ever did."

Jim was thankful that it was dark and Bones couldn't see the sheen in his eyes. As it was, his throat felt tight and he had to fight not to let on how those words had effected him. "Mine too," he said softly. He couldn't stand the thought of what his life might be like if Bones wasn't in it. Starfleet liked to say that your life had two very separate births: before enlistment, and after. Jim preferred to think of it as before Bones, and after. Life before Bones had been one misery after another, but now he knew he had a friend, a brother, someone he could depend upon no matter what to be standing by his side, always.

Which is why, when Bones had said nothing, just stood back and let Jim desperately fight to convince everyone around him that they were making a mistake, it was why he'd suddenly felt so, so adrift. And hurt. At the time he'd not had the spare processing capability to be upset or hurt by what Bones had or hadn't done, but after…

Well, he might have used work as an excuse to avoid his friend far more than he ever should have.

Bones reached out and squeezed Jim's wrist. "I'm sorry," he said again. "I'm so, so sorry."

Jim couldn't stand it any longer. He pulled Bones forwards and into a tight embrace. He felt Bones start in surprise, then return it with equal ferocity. For all that Jim was a very tactile person, it was rare that he initiated anything more than a slap on the back or an arm over the shoulder. Bones knew that, which was probably why he held on so tight. "How do I fix this, Jim? How do I make us right?"

Jim swallowed and pressed his face into Bones's shoulder. "Don't do it again." He said, his voice small and more of a plea than he intended. Jim had been let down in the past, multiple times, but only one person had ever asked for his forgiveness before. It had taken Jim years to let go of his anger enough to give Pike that second chance, but he was different now. A better person, thanks largely to the man next to him. He'd give Bones as many chances as they needed. God knew Bones did the same for him.

Bones shook his head. "Never. You tell me the sky's orange and I'll back you to the death."

"It is on Varun II." Jim muttered.

Bones snorted and shook his head. "Never change, Jimmy." He said, pulling back. "Always be who you are, and I promise I'll back you no matter what, and Jim," he made sure Jim was looking him firmly in the eye. "I swear to you now, I will never just stand back and watch someone hurt you again."

"I think Spock would have kicked your ass too." Jim admitted, looking down, unable to remember a time when someone had stepped in between Jim and someone trying to hurt him.

"He should have had to." Bones said seriously. "Nobody has the right to hurt you, and anyone who just stands by and watches it happen is just as goddamn bad." He touched Jim lightly on the arm, where Frank had broken it, and where his bioscans showed white scars on the bone.

Jim flushed. "You spoke to your mom, huh?"

"Didn't have to. I know you, kid." Bones squeezed his shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess you do." Jim found it easier to smile than he had done in weeks.

"So," Bones looked hesitant again, "we're okay?"

"We're okay." Jim promised. "If you fuck off and leave me alone with your mom's feather pillows."

Bones rolled his eyes and shoved him back into said pillows. "Yeah, alright. Get some sleep. I told Jo to wake you up first."

"Ugh. Thanks." Jim flopped back dramatically and clutched the blankets. Bones stood and then tucked him in like a goddamn child. Jim huffed and muttered but didn't stop him. That was Bones's way of showing he cared: threats and fussing. "Hey Bones?" He called as Bones finished and had headed to the door. "You know what I'm thankful for, right?"

Bones turned and fixed Jim with a small smile that somehow managed to be both happy and sad all at once. "Yeah Jim, I know."

Jim smiled back, thankful as well that he didn't need to give his thoughts voice.

Bones closed the door carefully behind him and Jim rolled over, burrowed into the pillows, and let the warmth and comfort of home pull him under.


	5. Chapter 5

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm thankful to you all for being so generous with your thoughts and opinions and for letting me have such fun playing with these characters. My day job involves a hell of a lot of math and not much creativity, so it's a real treat to be able to escape a bit with you all. So thank you. I don't say it enough and I'm really mean with cliffies and storylines, but I mean it. Epic amounts of love for you all! xx

Here is the final part. Be warned, it might actually be the sappiest I ever did sap. I'm really thrilled everyone liked Mrs McCoy because she's about to be around far more often!

* * *

Bones wasn't kidding when he said Jo was planning on waking him up. At a little after eight, Jim almost fell out of bed, jerked from sleep by the force of a small tornado that suddenly bounced on to the bed, right by his elbow.

Jim had been fast asleep, so much so that he was slightly disorientated upon waking, then surprised when he caught sight of the time.

"Uncle Jim! You have to wake up! Breakfast is ready!" Jo punctuated every word with an energetic bounce. "Come oooooon!"

"I'm up, I'm up!" Jim flailed.

Jo squealed in delight and jumped off the bed. Jim's sweater hit him in the face as she threw clothes in his direction, enough of a lady to know that it wasn't polite for Jim to wander down to breakfast in his boxer shorts, but clearly not having the patience to wait for him to find clothes himself.

So Jim ended up being tugged sleepily behind her, one small hand dragging him along as he tried to put his last sock on. They didn't match. Nothing he wore matched.

"Morning sleepyhead." Eleanor didn't laugh at his appearance but it was a close call, her lips pulled up in a smile and her eyes dancing with mirth.

Jim yawned then stammered out a greeting, pink with embarrassment. "Good morning."

"Did you sleep alright?"

"I did. That bed's amazing." He followed her into the dinning room, knowing by now that holidays meant large and extravagant get-togethers. He wasn't disappointed.

He and Jo were the last to arrive, with everyone else already seated around the enormous table, coffee or juice in hand. The soft chatter died down enough for everyone to offer their greetings, then picked up again smoothly as Jo dragged Jim to sit between Bones and Pike. She then sat on Bones's other side, providing a much needed barrier between him and Jocelyn, who was there with her parents as well.

As gatherings went, it was something to behold. Not quite as insane as Christmas which had utterly overwhelmed Jim the first time around, but it was close.

Bones had a very large family and no problem at all in sharing them with Jim. Aside from his sister and her husband, there were his father's two brothers, his mother's three sisters, their partners and children, plus Jim, Pike, Jocelyn's parents and an elderly man from one of the houses down the street whose wife had died the same year Bones's father had, and who had no other family. Jim knew all of them by now as he was a regular fixture of the holidays.

As the oldest of three sisters, Eleanor had inherited the house and the land that came with the family title. As her only son, tradition had fallen in Bones's lap to uphold.

Jim helped himself to coffee as he fielded various greetings. At a lull in conversation, Pike leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"This might just be the most terrifying thing I've ever done." He hissed.

Jim sniggered and took a sip of his coffee. "I know, right?"

"Kudos, kid. Knew you had balls but I'm impressed." Pike smiled serenely at Bones who was trying to listen in. "No wonder you handled that grilling from Command if you're used to facing down crowds like this."

"Admiral, if you're comparing my family to a bunch of paper pushers with overinflated egos…well, you'd not be completely off the mark." Bones drawled. Jim grinned. It was like clockwork: get Bones home for more than forty-eight hours and his accent returned in full force.

"You're talking to one of those paper pushers now, McCoy." Pike said dryly. Jim watched him carefully for signs of bitterness, but if they were there then they were carefully hidden from sight.

"Oh please." McCoy looked disgusted. "You've told Kormac to get stuffed more often than I have."

"I've also not punched him in the face." Pike said with a straight face.

"He still moaning about that?"

'You dislocated his jaw, Bones." Jim laughed.

"Well he dislocated my sanity." Bones huffed, reaching for more coffee and shoving a plate of piping corn muffins towards Jim with a pointed scowl. Jim rolled his eyes and snatched one of the plate.

"You're lucky he didn't manage to get you kicked out." Pike shook his head. "It was bad enough getting the both of you on the _Enterprise_ without taking your conduct records into consideration."

Bones began halfheartedly complaining but Jim could just stare. "Wait, what?"

They stopped talking to look at him in confusion. "What?"

"I was supposed to be on the_ Enterprise?"_

Pike frowned. "Of course you were. You think I spent three years hauling your ass out of one disciplinary after another to not put you to work?"

"I never really thought about it, I guess. They never called my name at assignment."

"And then you got a little distracted." Pike added wryly. "I guess you did." He leveled Jim with another of those rare smiles. "You're damn right I wanted you on my ship. Had to fight for you, too. Both of you, actually."

Jim paused for a moment and thought about what could have been. How wonderful would it have been to have gone into the black with Pike as his CO and Bones at his side. It might have been the closest thing to carving his own home as he'd have ever gotten.

Pushing aside the bitter disappointment that he'd no longer get to have that, he threw Bones a wide grin. "Hear that Bones! I told you we'd get the same posting."

Bones threw him a scowl that had none of it's usual heat. "Uh huh. Be still my heart."

"You're such a Grinch." Jim sighed, shaking his head. "God help whoever has to put up with you now."

Pike looked at him strangely. "You've not had your orders yet?"

Jim shook his head, trying not to let on how nervous he still was. They'd made it clear early on that he'd keep his field promotion, but whether he'd ever actually go back into space was another matter entirely. "No, not yet. I mean, I'm the last thing they're worrying about right now. Just gotta be patient I guess."

"Miracles never cease." Bones teased. "I told you not to worry. They've got to do something with you, it's not like they're overrun with better options right now."

"I love how you think that's a compliment." Jim shook his head in disbelief.

"I'm just saying," Bones broke off to pass Jo a dish of butter and help her spread it on her toast, "they aren't going to dump you on some intergalactic trash collector and forget all about you."

"Thanks Bones." Jim frowned. "See, this is why all your patients complain about your bedside manner."

"There's nothing wrong with my bedside manner!"

"You're delusional. Tell him, Chris." Jim didn't miss the shift in Pike when Jim used his first name, something he'd not done since before Tarsus.

Still, Pike covered it quickly. "Oh no, I'm not getting in the middle of this. I've seen how messy your bickering gets."

"And you still wanted the both of us." Jim couldn't hold back the beaming smile.

"Apparently the good doctor isn't the only one who is delusional."

The conversation rapidly went downhill from there and was only rescued by the end of breakfast and Jo demanding Jim show her more magic tricks. The passed the rest of the morning that way, with Jim entertaining Jo and her three cousins, all of who decided Jim was the ideal playmate and absolutely refused to allow him out of their sights. Come mid afternoon, before the main meal was served, Jim had to be delivered drinks with bendy straws, unable to extract himself from beneath a collapsed fort of couch cushions and sleeping children. The youngest was only three and she had managed to curl herself right over the back of Jim's neck. He dozed off like that and had a sneaky suspicion both Bones and Pike had taken advantage and snapped a dozen holos to blackmail him with later.

Eventually Jocelyn of all people took pity on him and maneuvered one sleeping child after another off Jim's back and onto the collection of cushions littering the floor. Pike and Bones had gone to help with the preparation, leaving Jim and the kids alone. Jocelyn took the opportunity to press a kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you." She said quietly. "For bringing him home safely." At Jim's stunned expression she smiled rather sheepishly. It was a rare expression on her, and it transformed her ice cool beauty into something utterly breathtaking. When she smiled like that, Jim could understand why Bones married her. "I know Leo and I aren't exactly on the best of terms, but that doesn't mean I don't care."

Jim nodded. He and Jocelyn had never really shared much in the way of conversation. He was Bones's friend, not hers, and he never forgot that she had cheated on him less than a month after his father died. He was glad when she didn't push for more and set about helping him to wake the kids.

They were irritable at first until the smell of food hit, and Jim was once again being dragged from the room. If he made it through the holiday with his dignity intact it would be a miracle.

Bones and Pike both gave him wide grins as he took his seat. "Not a damn word," He muttered.

It looked like it caused them both physical pain not to laugh at him and Jim was relieved when Eleanor stood and the room fell silent.

Her face was unusually grave but her eyes were soft as they took in the gathered members of her family. "I know it is tradition in this family to go around the table and say something, and I'm not going to break that. But this year, I think there is one thing that all of us, in common, are thankful for. We came so close to never sitting here together again and so many families are right now missing loved ones. So, on behalf of this family I am thankful, so thankful, for the three brave men who sit with us now. If it wasn't for them, we would not be here."

The eyes in the room were suddenly fixed on Jim, Pike and Bones. Jim was used to being scrutinized by now, but somehow it felt different, coming from these people. They had all, at some point during the day, showed their feelings through either words or embraces or awkward pats on the shoulder.

A long beat of silences passed, and Jim couldn't help but think about what she said. He couldn't help but think about Vulcan and the billions of lives lost. He couldn't help but think about the friends and classmates he had lost. He couldn't help but think that this year might have been the year he'd have dragged Gaila along with him because she loved observing human traditions and because Jim loved making her smile.

Then eventually Eleanor spoke up again, soft humor to put them all at ease. "I'm also grateful that Leonard didn't insist on helping with the cooking this year."

As one the groans and sniggers filled the silence and the weight of the eyes on them became something more comforting as they moved around the room naming one thing they were thankful for. Some were serious, others utterly irreverent, and Jim had no idea what he was going to say. In the past, he'd always made a joke, gotten a laugh, and passed the buck on to Bones as quickly as he could.

Despite the sheer number of people in the room, he was no closer to knowing what to say by the time they reached him, and even though he took a large gulp of water his throat still felt tight. "I…I guess I don't really have one thing I'm thankful for. I'm just…maybe…" he glanced at Pike, "I'm thankful for second chances."

That won him another warm smile and Jim knew he'd said the right thing.

Pike reiterated what Eleanor had said, that he was thankful they had a home to come back to, while uncharacteristically it was Bones making the joke this year.

"I'm thankful this clown has an allergy workup longer than Uncle Jasper's beard." He jerked his thumb in Jim's direction and got an immediate round of laugher, no more so than the man at the far end of the table whose long beard Joanna had braided that morning after breakfast.

Even as Jim spluttered the expected protest, Bones met his eye meaningfully and Jim nodded. They'd already said what they needed to the night before.

Jim figured he was doing okay until Jo said she was thankful her daddy and Uncle Jim came back from space alright, then both he and Bones suddenly found the bottoms of their glasses utterly fascinating.

The eventually they were finished and it was time to eat.

Before they could, however, Pike raised a hand. "If I could have a moment." Jim looked at him curiously. It wasn't like Pike to attract undue attention. "Again, thank you for allowing me to spend the holiday with you. Now, more than ever, is the time to be with family." He looked across at Jim and smiled. "But I've been wanting to give Jim here something all day and I'm afraid if I wait any longer the bribes I had to pay out to keep it a secret won't be large enough."

"Okay," Jim laughed awkwardly, "is it extra homework? Because I tested out of-"

To his surprise, Pike held out the small silver salt dispenser that Jim had played with in the bar back in Riverside all those years ago.

"Is this a metaphor or a euphemism or…?" Jim tipped the miniature model of the _Enterprise _upside down. It was empty, and no match in beauty for the real thing, but it held the weight of a memory, a dare, that made it somehow very precious.

"Well I'm reliably informed that people used to give kids keychains when they got their first cars but she doesn't need a key and you've already stolen her the once."

"_Borrowed_," Jim said reflectively, "I borrowed…wait, what?" The significance of what Pike was saying suddenly hit him at warp six.

"Your orders came in a couple of days ago. I was going to tell you but your doctor abducted you before I had the chance."

"What?" Jim asked again, unable to even dream that he was understanding Pike correctly.

"She still needs a good few months in dock to fix her up, but the _Enterprise _is yours. Congratulations, Captain."

"Holy shit!" Bones suddenly exclaimed, forgetting whom he was sitting with.

"Daddy!" Jo yelped, sounding scarily like her grandmother. No one seemed to notice as cheers and whistles suddenly filled the room and people rushed to congratulate him.

Jim could only swallow back the rush of emotion that had hit and he looked at Pike, desperately searching for a lie or a catch or something that made sense because things like this, they didn't happen to people like Jim.

Pike proved once again how well he knew Jim. He grabbed Jim's arm then dragged him close. "I'm so goddamn proud of you, kid."

Jim's shuddering exhale was the only response he could give. "Is this real?"

"Yeah Jim, it's real."

"Holy shit."

"Uncle Jim!"

"Well there you have it." Bones said, his hand falling on Jim's back, hemming him in from the other side and giving Jim some protection from the well meaning family who wanted to share in his achievement. "There'll be no living with him now."

Jim pulled back and squared his shoulders. "Thank you, Admiral. Chris. So, er, what form do I need to fill in to make Bones my CMO?"

"One that comes with a lot of booze, kid." Bones griped, his grin enormous. Jim waved him off absently.

"We'll talk later." Pike promised. "After we've eaten."

"Sounds good." Jim laughed.

Sounded wonderful, actually.

Sounded perfect.


End file.
